Sunday, April 30, 2006

At first it seemed to be nothing more than a routine, if damaging, case of counterfeiting in a country where faking it has become an industry.

Reports filtering back to the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese electronics giant NEC in mid-2004 alerted managers that pirated keyboards and recordable CD and DVD discs bearing the company's brand were on sale in retail outlets in Beijing and Hong Kong.[snip]In the name of NEC, the pirates copied NEC products, and went as far as developing their own range of consumer electronic products - everything from home entertainment centers to MP3 players. They also coordinated manufacturing and distribution, collecting all the proceeds.

As I read this, I can't help but recall my DOA DVD-RW a couple years ago. I bought it an online store I know longer use, and my opinion of NEC's non-monitor products plummeted. The third party repair site that never, ever responded to my emails and calls, and the drive that I still have somewhere.... buried (I think). I'll keep an eye on this, and wait to see exactly what other components were counterfeited (? Is that the right term?). Perhaps my opinion of NEC will improve. --MissMFull article link: Next step in pirating: Faking a company - Technology - International Herald Tribune

1 comment:

Now that you have brought it to my attention, Jane (thanks for the post) I'm almost amazed that it has taken so long for the bad guys to do this. Counterfeiting brands is common in auto parts and has also been seen in aircraft parts; to the extent airlines and even local repair firms have had to institute fraud detection features.

The only parties not damaged by something like this is the crooks. The company whose name has been sullied and the consumers both lose, big-time.

I, too, have here a (supposedly) NEC drive that has been non-functional since the day I got it. It was bought online and neither the seller nor the contacts listed in the papers ever answered an inquiry. Perhaps it is also a fake. I would not be surprised at all if it was.